Decisions, decisions - stern thruster?

johng39

johng39

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I recently purchased an Azimut 46 and having only berthed it once before removing from the water, I am asking for some input from others on a stern thruster. I will explain my thoughts first.

I am an experienced guy who has owned 40 twin shaft boats with a bow thruster and never had an issue mooring a boat. However I took someone else's boat out with both bow and stern thrusters, which changed everything.

Now back to the new boat, it has a 6hp bow thruster, which seems on the low side for this size of boat and here is my plan.

Remove the bow thruster and use it as a stern thruster, as it is only assisting the props and fit something like a side power se100 in place of the existing one to get some extra oomph at the bow.

So, am I just spending money for the hell of it, as the boat has had a 6hp thruster since new and does an experienced guy really need a stern thruster? Opinions please from people with boats around that size, stern thruster users or installers would help me.
 
crazy4557 said:
Does an experienced guy need a bow thruster let alone a stern thruster?
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I hear what you are saying, but as said, no matter how good you are a side wind or tide cannot be easily counteracted with just engines alone. If it saves me clouting something it is a good thing. Any help on the original questions regarding size of bow thruster and use of stern thruster?
 
I fitted a bow thruster to my 41ft princess 4 years ago , the only reason I did it was because I lost an engine and had to moor it up , I fitted it as an emergency back up as we all know a shaft boat isn't easy on one engine at flow speeds. In my view 6hp isn't enough on a 40ft let alone a 46 with all the windage from it. I fitted a 95kgf vetus which made it feel really alive at the sharp end . You have just given me an idea now as my next boat no doubt will have a tiny builders specified thruster, be a good idea to fit a larger one in the same tube and use the old one at the stern.
 
Need a stern thruster on twin shafts, no. Nice to have though. I have one and use it often, not really for moving sideways into a berth although it is useful in places like Yarmouth. I use it most to gently hold the boat on the pontoon whilst crew either tie up or untie. Sure, we could rig slip ropes but with thrusters it is normally easier, unless the wind is blowing v hard, to just hold the boat there, everyone climbs aboard, confirms to me that ropes are all safely out of the water etc and then just a little touch to take us off the pontoon and off we go. Then it's just throttles.

I don't understand some people's religious hatred of thrusters. They can make life easier, you don't have to use them, most of us who have bow and stern would prefer not to go backwards to an earlier simpler existence. I remember my childhood on a sailing boat that had no thrusters and no ability to steer when going astern. Sure, we got really good but we also had some pretty fraught moments with captain and crew shouting at each other. I seem to be able to avoid most of that and that is a price well worth paying.
 
Congratulations on your purchase. I would recommend keeping the bow thruster possibly updating it to a more powerful version and adding a stern thruster. I don't know where you moor your boat but the 6 hp is adequate for moving around med marinas on balmy days but in the uk you need more oompth to cope with wind and tide. Once fitted and used you will never go back. I have been driving boats like these for 35 years and can recommend the usefulness of this equipment. Take a look at Sleipner thrusters and get something quiet and smooth operating. Good luck.
 
Red said:
Congratulations on your purchase. I would recommend keeping the bow thruster possibly updating it to a more powerful version and adding a stern thruster. I don't know where you moor your boat but the 6 hp is adequate for moving around med marinas on balmy days but in the uk you need more oompth to cope with wind and tide. Once fitted and used you will never go back. I have been driving boats like these for 35 years and can recommend the usefulness of this equipment. Take a look at Sleipner thrusters and get something quiet and smooth operating. Good luck.
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Thanks for that, UK is where it will be used, it was a med boat previously and that may explain the small bow thruster.
 
The interesting thing I have noticed on other similar threads, those who rubbish the use of Stern Thrusters usually don't have them, or have never had the opportunity to use one. It is never a problem if you don't have to use it when docking, but so good when it is needed, even for a second or two of assistance.

Stern thrusters are great, they make it effortless to berth in previously unvisited marinas with only two people on board, all with zero stress!

I bought our current boat with the Stern Thruster already fitted, and it was not a real consideration in the purchase process when comparing this boat to the other similar models on the market. Next time it would be a much higher consideration in the "which boat to buy" process.

Graham
 
johng39 said:
I recently purchased an Azimut 46 and having only berthed it once before removing from the water, I am asking for some input from others on a stern thruster. I will explain my thoughts first.

I am an experienced guy who has owned 40 twin shaft boats with a bow thruster and never had an issue mooring a boat. However I took someone else's boat out with both bow and stern thrusters, which changed everything.

Now back to the new boat, it has a 6hp bow thruster, which seems on the low side for this size of boat and here is my plan.

Remove the bow thruster and use it as a stern thruster, as it is only assisting the props and fit something like a side power se100 in place of the existing one to get some extra oomph at the bow.

So, am I just spending money for the hell of it, as the boat has had a 6hp thruster since new and does an experienced guy really need a stern thruster? Opinions please from people with boats around that size, stern thruster users or installers would help me.
Click to expand...

You get the fact that thrusters are for going sideways, not for turning as you have engines to do that. So you can handle your boat, and the thruster is not being used as a mask.

A more powerful bow thruster is always good, you never think it is too powerful, and more power can make the differnce in strong wind.

As long as you don't change tunnel size - ie if you have an SE60 now you can got to and SE100 but not an SE120 - you can do it quite economiclly. You will even get quite a few hundred back for the old thruster on ebay, enough to pay for the bigger batteries and cables for sure.

However I don't see the value of a stern thruster on a twin shaft boat. You have 10hp of thruster or 100s of hp of engine which will make the stern go sideways. And fitting a stern thruster is as difficult as a bow thruster, don't be fooled. It's not a cheap job as it's time consuming.
 
I have a 48 ft boat and have had boats for 30 years. The previous boats did not have thrusters at all.

Current boat has a bow and a stern thruster . where possible I berth and depart the berth using engines alone and I rarely use the thrusters but when I do I am very glad they are there, especially for single handed berthing or in high winds or awkward or tight berths.

Some people use them contstantly the moment the enter the pier heads which is plain daft but a thrust or two when required makes sense.

With my boat in anything over a F4 wind you cant hold the boat by hand while someone ties up it will take you with it where as a 35ft and smaller is easy to hold in most winds.
 
acbruce said:
Need a stern thruster on twin shafts, no. Nice to have though. I have one and use it often, not really for moving sideways into a berth although it is useful in places like Yarmouth. I use it most to gently hold the boat on the pontoon whilst crew either tie up or untie. Sure, we could rig slip ropes but with thrusters it is normally easier, unless the wind is blowing v hard, to just hold the boat there, everyone climbs aboard, confirms to me that ropes are all safely out of the water etc and then just a little touch to take us off the pontoon and off we go. Then it's just throttles.

I don't understand some people's religious hatred of thrusters. They can make life easier, you don't have to use them, most of us who have bow and stern would prefer not to go backwards to an earlier simpler existence. I remember my childhood on a sailing boat that had no thrusters and no ability to steer when going astern. Sure, we got really good but we also had some pretty fraught moments with captain and crew shouting at each other. I seem to be able to avoid most of that and that is a price well worth paying.
Click to expand...

Spot on. It takes a lot of pressure off your crew because you can do all the work without having to rely on ropes being in the right place at the right time. No need for pulling on the ropes whilst mooring either, you hold the boat where it needs to be, they just tie off. The noise of a thruster is forgotten long before the the embarrassment of struggling and shouting at each other only to damage your boat, the other boat, the pontoon and your crew when they fall in between the boat and the pontoon trying to make the gap which was just too big.

Henry :)
 
I would try the boat as is for a while. Going up in size on the bow might be helpful subject to increase in available thrust in the existing tunnel. I have a stern thruster but seldom use it. I sometimes feel it makes me a bit lazy and rather than think through my approach to a mooring whilst well off it, there is a tendency to just use the thrusters and assume all will be well. This has nearly caught me out once or twice, where as a well considered approach usually works fine every time
 
johng39 said:
I recently purchased an Azimut 46 and having only berthed it once before removing from the water, I am asking for some input from others on a stern thruster. I will explain my thoughts first.

I am an experienced guy who has owned 40 twin shaft boats with a bow thruster and never had an issue mooring a boat. However I took someone else's boat out with both bow and stern thrusters, which changed everything.

Now back to the new boat, it has a 6hp bow thruster, which seems on the low side for this size of boat and here is my plan.

Remove the bow thruster and use it as a stern thruster, as it is only assisting the props and fit something like a side power se100 in place of the existing one to get some extra oomph at the bow.

So, am I just spending money for the hell of it, as the boat has had a 6hp thruster since new and does an experienced guy really need a stern thruster? Opinions please from people with boats around that size, stern thruster users or installers would help me.
Click to expand...

We are all different, so get what feels right for you. Personally I'd consider increasing the power of the bow thruster, and defer fitting a stern thruster to see how you get on with the extra hp up front.
 
no experience (my 5KW bow thruster is yet untested on my 43ft f/b) but when checking the specs, 5KW was meant to be enough for up to 45ft, so 6KW should be (in theory at least) fine for 48ft...

As others pointed, check if it does indeed make sense to increase the motor on the same size of tunnel, you must be close to the limit for 180mm dia tunnels (which I guess you have)

cheers

V.
 
The key for me here is boating 'enjoyment' if having a stern thruster means that you won't worry about berthing so much then go for it. I was an old school 'no thrusters' for many years then I met an owner who hand great difficulty with his hands from arthritis and asked me how it could be easier. I suggested a stern thruster and an upgrade for the bow one at the same time as it had a weak one. He had them fitted and also had a remote that he hung rounds his neck. With a bit of practise he could moor his 51 ft boat on his own and it transformed his enjoyment of the boat and I got promoted to 'drinks' server!
 
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A bow and stern thruster can give you loads of confidence, even if you don't use them, they are there if you do. If wind is strong you will need to start the movement with throttles and the thrusters keep it moving, depending on the power of them. Some of the ones on the new boats are awesome. You can put boat into a spin, thrust against the movement of the bow and the boat goes sideways very well into wind. Great fun.
 
bow+stern=flippin' marvellous.
like many many of us, skippering is largely singlehanded no matter how many crew.
I am grateful for both nearly every tie-up, with two locks out of Swansea.
mf 925
 
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